Improvement in perforators for automatic telegraphs



2 Sheets-"Sheet I.

G. LITTLE. Perforators for Automatic Telegraphs". N0. 142,485. 7Patented September 2,1873.

r 2 sheets -S heet 2. G. LITTLE.

Perforators for Automatic Telegraphs. No. 42,485, PatentedSeptember2,l873.

CIEIDDEIEI DECIDED UNITED STATES ATENT GEORGE LITTLE, OF RUTHERFORDPARK, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT lN PERFORAT'ORS FOR AUTOMATIC TELEGRAPH-IS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 142,485, datedSeptember 2, 1873; application filed March 5, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

' is a specification:

The object of my present invention is to employ electromagnetism as themotor to project and withdraw the punches that perforate the paper, inorder that the hand of the operator may be relieved of the jar andstrain to whichit is subjected if the punches are projected by powerapplied by the finger or hand to the keys.

I employ two electro-magnets, one to project the punches to perforatethe paper, and the other to withdraw the punches from the paper andreturn them to their normal position, and

the connections to these magnets are arranged so that when a finger-keyis depressed the c'ir-- cuit to one magnet is closed and opened to theother, and the first magnet attracts its armature and moves a bar, whichbar in turn moves a lever upon the under side of the depressedfinger-key, and this lever acts upon the proper slides to move them andtheir punches and perforate the paper. When the finger is removed fromthe key, the key and its lever are moved upward by a spring and thecircuit is broken to the magnet which has been acting, and is closed tothe second magnet, and this, by its armature and lever, acts upon theslides and returns them to their normal position, withdrawing'thepunches from the paper. The armature and bar of the first magnet is alsoreturned to its place by this lever. The proper feed is given to thepaper by the depressed finger-key acting upon pins on a rock'shaft, fromwhich shaft motion is communicated to the drum over which the paper isdrawn.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a plan of a portion of my improvedperforating-machine. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the mechanism for projecting the slides and punches and Fig. 3 is a vertical section at the line00 a, showing the mechanism for withdrawing the slides and punches. Thefinger-keys a a, three of which are shown in the drawings, are to be ofany desired number, according to the number of characters required to heperforated, and these keys are plm'trl side by side, as shown in Fig. 1,and

1 dent rm 0.

forma horizontal ran ge. The keys are hinged to the insulated bar b, andupon the under side of each key a lever, c, is pivoted at 2, and'aspring, d, keeps the key and its lever raised when the key is not actedupon by the finger. Beneath the range of finger-keys are the slides e e,and to them the punches h h are secured. These slides are placed atright angles to and extend the entire length of the range of fingerkeys,and upon one or more of these slides," at points contiguous to thelevers 0, there are projections 3 3 for the lever c to act against Whena key is depressed, as hereafter set forth. The

slides and punches are guided by the punches passing through the metalplates or blocks ff, and the slides should be supported and guided in asimilar manner at one or more places in their length. i is a bar belowand extending the entirelength of the range of finger-keys, and this baris fitted to slide parallel with the slides 12 e. l l are pins or studsupon this bar i, one of which is adjacent to each lever c,- and m is thearmature of the electro-magnetn, which armature is connected to said barby the pen- (See Fig.2.)

. The operation of the parts thus far described is as follows: When afinger-key is depressed the lever 0 moves with it, and is in a positionto act against the contiguous projection or projections 3 upon theslides c, and also in a position to be acted upon by its pin lupon thebar 2'. Upon the key touching the stop plate 1) the circuit from abattery is closed to the magnet n, and said magnet attracts itsarmature, moving the bar 6, and by "a pin, Z, the lever c of thedepressed key is moved, and the proper slides are projected forward, andthe strip of paper q perforated by the punches. To withdraw the punchesfrom the paper, I employ the electro-magnet r, armature s, lever t, andprojections 4-upon the under side of the slides e. The circuit to thismagnet r is broken when the magnet 42 is acting, as next explained, andthe armature s and its lever t are moved away from said magnet r whenthe slides e are projected by the pin 8 upon the bar 13 taking againstthe outer end of said lever t. When the finger is removed from the key,and said key forced upward by its spring, the circuit isbroken to n andclosed to r, and the armature s is attracted, moving its lever 23, whichtakes against the projections 4, and returns the slides and punches totheirnormal position. At-the same time said lever it takes against thepin 8, and moves the bar 6 back to its place ready to. be projected whenthe circuit to n is again closed. A slight spring, 14, returns the leverc to place when the key is raised, and a stop-pin, 15, prevents thelever being moved too far by its spring.

I will now describe how the circuits are arranged to bring the magnets n1" into action by the depression and elevation of a key, a. Eachfinger-key at its outer end is provided with an insulated arm, n, whichprojects downward, and

at its end is forked, so that one fork rests upon an insulated plate, w,and the other fork upon the adjoining plate when the key a is raised,and in this position the current from the battery enters by thebinding-screw 6, and passes through the magnet 1' to the plate to, andby the various arms v and plates to to the binder 7, and back to thebattery. When a key, a, is depressed, as aforesaid, the fork of the arm1; is lifted from its plates to, and the circuit broken to the magnet 1;but so soon as the key touches the stop-platep the circuit to n isclosed, and the current from 6 passes through a, and by wire 5, plate19, key a, bar I), and wire to the binder 7, and the magnet n actuatesthe punches h alloted to the fin ger-key by the armature m, bar t, pin1, lever c, and punch-slides e. The rising of the key breaks the circuitthrough 12, closes the circuit at w, energizes the magnet r, and drawsback the lever 25, punch-slides e, and bar 6, the spring 18 aiding inthis move- ,ment.

The die-plate 20 Fig. 4, against which the punches h h act to perforatethe paper, is secured to the plate f in any suitable manner, and Iprefer that the punches be shaped so as to perforate square holes, andthat the punches be arranged in two rows, as heretofore usual. The stripof paper q passes through an openingbetween f and w and thence over thedrum 1 w beneath the pressure-roller 10. The feed motion of this drummay be given in any desired manner.

I have shown the rock-shaft t I and pins 12 thereon acted upon by pins13 011 the finger-keys; and from this rock-shaft motion is communicatedby the link and crank 01 to the shaft o upon which is a clamp, c, thattakes against an annular flange extending from the side of the drum 10The pins 12 and 13 are positioned with reference to each other, so thatthe proper amount of paper for the character to be perforated and forthe space between two characters is fed forward by the depression of thefinger-key, and for the space between words and sentences a key, a maybe employed that does not make contact with the bar 1),- hence themagnet n will not be energized, but the paper only will be fed.

The contact-roller 10 is upon an arm hinged to the standard 20, anddrawn down by a spring,

21, and a spring, 22, serves to raise the arms 12 and 12, and restorethe parts to a normal position.

The hart might be reciprocated by mechanical means, instead of themagnet n.

I claim as my invention- 1. The levers 0 hinged to the keys at, incombination with the punch-slides c and mechanism for actuating thesame, substantially as set forth.

2. The electro-magnet a, bar 2', and pins Z, in combination with thekeys at, levers c, and slides e, substantially as set forth.

3. The magnet r and lever t, in combination with the slides c andpunches h, for returning the punches to a normal position, as set forth.

4. In combination with punches and fin gerkeys, for perforating orembossing telegraphic paper,two magnets and their connections,substantially as set forth, for projecting and withdrawingthe punches,substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 26th day of February, A. D. 1873.

GEORGE LITTLE.

Witnesses:

GEO. T. PINoKNEY, GHAs. H. SMITH.

